NEWS FROM THE UAE
source : THE NATIONAL

Bicycles banned on the Metro – unless they fold

DUBAI - MAY 19: Bicycles will not be allowed in stations or on trains on the Dubai Metro, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said yesterday.

Ramadan Abdullah Mohammed Ramadan, the operations director of the Rail Agency at the RTA, said by e-mail that bicycles would “spoil the interiors” of the trains and “bring dirt to the station”.

The RTA said, however, that it would reconsider its policy once Dubai’s planned 900km of cycle paths were fully installed over the next two years.

Cycling enthusiasts were disappointed, but said they understood the impracticality of having bikes on busy carriages.

“It’s fantastic Dubai is embracing a lower carbon transport solution,” said James Duthie, who lives and cycles in the city.

While he welcomed both the Metro and the increased number of cycle routes, he said it was a “great shame they can’t find a way to join the two of them up”.

“If it is part of a cleaner and greener city, then surely a holistic approach ... would be far better for everyone.”

Peyman Younes Parham, director of the RTA’s marketing and corporate communication department, confirmed the RTA’s policy, but stressed that it might reconsider it later, once it became clear how many people might benefit from greater integration between the two modes of transport.

“In a lot of European countries, buses have racks for bikes and we are looking at that.

“There are the type of bikes that fold up under your arms and they will not be an issue, but anything you have to wheel around, they will not be allowed.”

The first stage of the cycle track project, due to be completed by mid-2010, the Gulf Coast Trail, will extend the current paths on Jumeirah Beach Road and Jumeirah Open Beach to connect the Burj al Arab with Dubai Creek.

Wolfgang Hohmann, the owner of Wolfi’s cycle shop, said he had stocked up on folding bicycles in anticipation of the Metro.

Another cyclist, David Zarate, said: “The fold-up bikes are one option, restrictions at peak hour are another.

“I’d be happy to see bikes on the Metro but maybe not everybody would be happy to see someone put their 20kg rusted bike on when I put a carbon fibre bike on. They are two different things.

“If [the Metro] is jam-packed like Tokyo, you cannot get the bike on and in the process annoy 20 people while trying it.”

He said the wait-and-see policy was sensible, because if the Metro was a success, it could get very crowded at peak times.

Credit card fraud on the rise, say banks

DUBAI - MAY 19: Fraud involving credit cards issued in the GCC, after years of being kept at bay, appears to be on the rise, bankers said.

Speaking on the sidelines at the 10th Annual Cards Middle East conference, Jonathan Campbell-James, HSBC’s regional head for security and fraud risk, said the bank had experienced a “notable” jump in fraud in the first quarter of 2009 from the previous year.

“I think we will see by the middle of the year that we’ll be suffering from more [fraudulent] transactions,” Mr Campbell-James said.

Though cautioning that it was too early to call it an “established trend”, he said that “certainly in the first quarter of this year, we saw a notable increase in card fraud”.

In typical cases, HSBC’s regional credit card holders have their card information stolen while abroad, primarily in Britain, the US, Canada or Sri Lanka, where it is then manipulated and used to make illegal transactions.

“It’s a cause for concern because most of us are innocent victims of fraudsters operating abroad,” he said.

HSBC, an international banking group with a large expatriate client base in the GCC and some 300,000 customers in the UAE alone, can be seen as a bellwether financial institution for the region.

The phenomenon described by Mr Campbell-James would mark a significant departure from the past three years, when fraud levels in the region essentially stagnated. “Whereas fraud in Europe has gone up, fraud in the Middle East had remained, historically, relatively static in terms of percentage of fraud to sales,” he said.

“We stayed on a level playing field, while fraud levels in Europe went up.”

He said that analysis conducted by the bank appeared to show criminals employing conventional methods to purloin sensitive consumer data, but at an accelerated pace.

“We’re on the alert for new types of fraud, but the increase in fraud that we have seen has been very much more of the same.

“In terms of card fraud, almost all our losses come from the skimming and counterfeiting of our credit cards.”

Skimming involves surreptitiously obtaining card information, for example by using concealed devices at shops and restaurants to copy information from cards’ magnetic strips during transactions.

“I think fraudsters may be hungrier these days, and as knowledge of fraud techniques spreads without banks closing the door on them, you can expect the fraud trend to increase,” Mr Campbell-James said.

Other bankers at the conference, which opened on Sunday at Al Bustan Rotana hotel, acknowledged the rise in fraud, discussing the issue during question-and-answer sessions, and also pointed to an increase in the number of skimming devices placed on automated teller machines.

During one presentation, bankers were shown how, using Google searches, to access websites that sell stolen credit card information.

Banks in the UAE were rattled last year by a large-scale debit and credit card scam that some bankers have said amounted to more than Dh100 million (US$27m) in stolen money.

Multiple banking sources have said the incident, in which banks sent SMS text messages instructing tens of thousands of customers to change their PIN codes, occurred after thieves breached a network that banks used to share sensitive data such as PINs.

The information they obtained was then transferred to counterfeit cards which were used to make illegal purchases in dozens of countries.

The Central Bank is thought to be investigating the theft, which is believed to have occurred after the information was lifted from a UAE-based bank.

Mr Campbell-James said HSBC had dealt with the fraud up until last month, but the bank’s counter-measures were able to foil fraudsters before they could make illegal transactions. “We believe from analysis from our own internal data that this was a product of a system compromise of some sorts,” he said.

“It’s a very dangerous threat because the fraudster gets mass, bulk data, and he gets all the elements of data that he needs.”

He said HSBC had given the Central Bank its forensic analysis of the fraud, though he declined to give details on subsequent measures taken by banks and the Central Bank on the issue.

“The fallout from last September’s attack has actually been very beneficial in that both the Central Bank and we as banks have all examined our own systems, and quite a lot of activity is taking place to ensure that vulnerabilities are being removed.

“Considerable resources will be put in to ensuring that this doesn’t become a problem and undermine the integrity of the whole system.”

The bank’s fraud losses in the UAE, he added, were “broadly comparable with card fraud losses with other countries in the region, and that’s because the compromise is occurring outside the region”.

The Central Bank could not be reached for comment.

TDIC denies Saadiyat Island report claims

ABU DHABI - MAY 19:  Foreign labourers working on the multi-billion dirham Saadiyat Island project are subject to "gross exploitation" sometimes equivalent to "forced labour", according to a report published today by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Work on the colossal project to turn the island into the heart of Abu Dhabi’s arts and cultural quarter began shortly after 2005.

UAE government officials were praised for improving workers’ housing conditions and for efforts to ensure labourers are paid on time but rights abuses remained commonplace, according to the report.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), which is overseeing the project, categorically denied claims made by the report’s authors, including allegations that it discouraged contractors from co-operating with HRW investigators.

“(We) would like to make it clear that anyone living on Saadiyat Island has the same rights and freedom of movement as anyone living elsewhere in the UAE,” said a statement released by TDIC.

“HRW made a number of claims and observations in its report dealing with specific issues but most of these are already policies that have been implemented by TDIC since its inception though this is not something HRW has recognised in its report...”

The 80-page report alleges that the UAE Government and developers responsible for the project have failed to combat the causes of worker abuse, such as illegal recruitment policies and unfulfilled wage promises.

The study calls on the high profile international institutions due to open branches on the island, such as the Guggenheim museum, New York University and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, to obtain guarantees that worker rights will be protected.

“These international institutions need to show that they will not tolerate or benefit from the gross exploitation of these migrant workers,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“The vague assurances they've received from their development partners are hollow substitutes for firm contractual agreements that their projects will be different from business as usual in Abu Dhabi,” she said.

Swine flu alert for Dubai travellers

DUBAI - MAY 19: Passengers who were on a flight from Dubai to Hyderabad last week have been asked to stay in their homes after an Indian student on the plane tested positive for swine flu.

The 23-year-old Indiana University student travelled on May 11 on an Emirates Airline flight from New York to Dubai. He then boarded a separate plane to Hyderabad International Airport.

He is currently in isolation and receiving treatment at the Government General and Chest Hospital in Erragadda.

Dr SV Prasad, superintendent of the hospital, said the patient’s condition was stable and he was being treated with medication including Tamiflu.

The student arrived in Dubai on May 12 at 7.45pm and boarded another flight to Hyderabad at 9.45pm after passing through airport security and thermal scanners.

An Emirates Airline official said that as the student had travelled on two separate flights, it was possible that passengers on the plane from New York to Dubai had finished their journeys in the UAE.

It was also possible that people from the UAE boarded the same flight to Hyderabad as the student.

An Indian television station reported that a consular official from the UAE had visited the hospital in Hyderabad after discovering that the infected passenger had spent an hour and a half in Dubai International Airport’s duty-free shop. Emirates Airline said it was helping authorities track down all the passengers who sat close to the student on either leg of his flight.

 It also said all the cabin crew on both flights had been advised to contact the Emirates Clinic if they experienced flu-like symptoms. It was not clear whether the crew were still working.

Another 21 passengers who sat near the student on the flight to Hyderabad were contacted by Indian health officials and asked to visit medical centres to be tested for the H1N1 virus.

Another two passengers from the plane have come forward with flu-like symptoms and have asked to remain isolated while their swabs are tested, said KN Reddy, chief medical officer at Hyderabad International Airport.

“We asked those sitting around him to come forward and we alerted everyone who was on that flight,” Dr Reddy said.

“A lot of them have contacted us as well. We have encouraged all other passengers to observe home quarantine and not to travel at this time.”

Dr Reddy confirmed that both Indian nationals and foreigners who boarded the flight in Dubai had been asked to remain in their homes.

Ram Mankekar, director of corporate communications at Hyderabad International Airport, said it screened all passengers on arrival as “standard practice”.

The infected passenger did not notify staff of any medical complaints on the generic health questionnaire handed out to all passengers, an Emirates Airline official said. He also passed through a thermal scanner in Dubai but did not have a high temperature.

Orhan Abbas, Emirates Airline vice president for India and Nepal, said it was now helping to contact everyone who was sitting close to the infected passenger.

“Emirates crew that were servicing the cabin in which the passenger was seated have been advised to contact the Emirates Clinic if they experience flu-like symptoms,” he said.

Health officials have said that those with swine flu are likely to be contagious for one day before and up to seven days after they begin to show symptoms, which are similar to those of normal flu.

“Emirates will continue to assist with the authorities in their efforts to contact all passengers who were seated close to the person identified as having influenza H1N1,” Mr Abbas said.

“On all Emirates flights from North and South America, passengers are required to declare their health condition in an official form which is collected on arrival at Dubai by the UAE Ministry of Health.”

Mr Abbas said the passenger in question declared no “health issues”.

He added that the airline was “co-operating fully” with the Ministry of Health and Andhra Pradesh Health Organisation by providing the necessary passenger details.

According to the Indian television channel NDTV, there were 156 passengers on the flight to Hyderabad and officials had been in contact with 146 of them, asking them to stay in their homes and have minimal contact with their families until the infection window had closed.

The station also reported that a representative from the UAE consul general visited the Hyderabad hospital after discovering that the passenger spent 90 minutes in the duty-free shop at Dubai airport.

No one from the Ministry of Health was available to comment on the risks of the virus now entering the UAE.

The World Health Organisation said yesterday that 40 countries had reported 8,829 confirmed cases of the virus. The official global death toll stands at 76.

The pandemic alert level is still at five, the second highest. Countries including Thailand, Turkey, the UK, Japan, Germany and China have all reported laboratory-confirmed cases. The WHO is still not recommending any travel restrictions.

Health officials from the UAE and Gulf region are currently in Geneva for the World Health Assembly, where they will discuss their pandemic contingency plans.

Pirates attack Dubai oil tanker

DUBAI - MAY 19: A Dubai-based oil tanker narrowly escaped being hijacked by Somali pirates on Sunday after a warship responded to its distress call, the ship’s operator said on Monday.

In a chase lasting more than an hour, the Pakistani captain of the Dubai Princess, which was travelling to Sudan in convoy, accelerated to top speed and zigzagged the 250-metre, 115,485-tonne tanker as the pirates’ skiff closed to within 15 metres.

The attackers fired submachine guns and rocket-propelled grenades as they made repeated attempts to board, while the 24-strong crew responded with two rocket parachutes, a type of flare, as they waited for help.

A second pirate boat joined the attack but was foiled by the arrival of the convoy’s escort, an Australian naval frigate, and its helicopter support.

The pirates were subsequently disarmed, according to Emarat Maritime, the company that operates the Dubai Princess.

“We are very relieved,” said Jitendra Misra, managing director of Emarat Maritime.

He praised the Dubai Princess’s master, Syed Naqvi, who along with the ship’s Indian officers, Filipino ratings and an engineer formed the crew of the brand new tanker, which was sailing from Singapore to Sudan to pick up a cargo of oil.

“Capt Naqvi has done an excellent job and pulled off some amazing manoeuvres,” said Capt Misra. The tanker is now heading for Port Sudan where the damage from the assault will be assessed.

Capt Misra said the increased protection for shipping was making the pirates ever more brazen.

“They are very bold and they must be pretty desperate. Most vessels now travel in the convoys, but despite that the attacks continue.

“They follow a method where the first skiff attacks. A warship arrives to chase off the first skiff and meanwhile from the other side a second skiff takes the target.”

But he said that despite the “anarchic” conditions in the Gulf of Aden, the global economic downturn meant ships had little option but to continue plying dangerous routes.

“We have to continue sailing,” he said. “World commerce and trade is not in a position to allow ships to go the long way around South Africa. It is two or three times the cost and takes much more time.

“It is really important that people understand what is really happening out on the water. It is complete anarchy. The international community is doing what it can under the circumstances but more needs to be done. Someone has to take charge.”

Pirate attacks worldwide almost doubled in the first quarter of the year, to 102, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre.